38 had ] eason for her apprehensIon. What reason did she have for EInbaum? In the opinion of the Countess, Mendelssohn Einbaum bore a relnark- able reseInblance to Count Horvath. The saIne stocky fraIne, with no neck to speak of. The deferent, attentive Inanner of a good headwaiter. Also a good Estene], with an ahnost inaudible voice 'The Count was a student of Ottoman history and spent most of his time living privately, alnong his books, 0] hunting in the forests of Abony, the falnily estate neighboring Pest. He saw few people; outside of falnil) friends, even fewer saw hitn. If EinbauIn, for instance, occupied the Count's quar- ters-with the knowledge of a few close servants-and went through his usual habits, or stayed in his quarters} he (the Count) Inlght not actually be In ssed for weeks, possihly Inonths. That would prove to be more than enough time for the Countess and her father, tl a veIling different routes to the saIne destination, to be in Brazil, Guatelnala, Gavarnie, in the Pyrenees, or possibly the Canary Islands, before hIs absence was noted. Einbaum, in the meantÏtne, would have broken no law and his iIn- personation would have been purely accidental. As a friend of the Countess, he had been a guest on the estate He could stay on, or he could return to Vienna as soon as he had received word from the Countess. Einbaum, of course, would do this as a favor, but the Countess would see to it that he was rewarded. One of the rings froln her fingers would make it worth his trouble, if that was what it would take. Had Einbauln for- gotten that he, too, was a Jew? Perhaps he had never felt it so strong- ly. Besides, he was no Horvath and had noth- ing to lose but his life. In August of 1939, in Vienna, it was hard to imagine who would take EinbauIn's There were lawC) on the statute books. High in the: council of the city of Linz was an influential uncle, husband of an Einbaum. Besides, the Ininor risks In- volved appealed to hitn. Not for noth- ing had Einbauln been a student of the gangster filtn and the Wild West. Elnbaum himself made the boat 1 eservations for their trip to Budapest, on the C)eventh of SepteInber That was the season for river outings, and they were certain to be seen b} innumerable people. For thIs excursion Einbauln bought hitnself a trenchcoat, of the sort popular wIth Germans, and a cane often seen at the races, with the handles forIning a saddle the observer could sit on. That was not all. The metal shaft contained a glass tube for sev- eral ounces of brandy or kirschwasser. When it was not in use, he wore it in the crook of his arm. T HUS Inatters stood on the first of SepteInber, the day Hitler in- vaded Poland. Just one day later, with a servant nalned Rudi, who carried several pairs of skis along with other luggage, the Countess and Ein- baum took a train for a ski resort in the Italian Alps. Thev left the traIn at Graz, however, and went hy car to a village on the Hungarian border. Count Horvath, perhaps without lug- gage, would arrive on the bus that left Pest that Inorning. He would take EInbauIn's seat on the train; Einbaum would return to Pest on the bus. If there were cOInplications, the Countess would return to Pest and they would Inake new plans. The bus froln Pest appeared on schedule, before InidnIgh t, but Count Horvath was not on it. A briefcase with his initials, containing a bottle of akva vit, two Swiss chocolate bars, and a phial of sleeping powders, was found on one of the seats. With- out d word Sophia Szapati took one of her ski poles and beat the driver of the bus as she would a horse. When Einbauln trIed to restrain her, she beat hiln. The Inetal tip left the scar still visible through his beard. i\ll of this was observed by the servant Rudi, from his seat on the pile of luggage. He waited both for help and for the seizure to pass. This side of her teInpera- ment was new to Ein- baum, and so was her grief Was it her affec- tion for the Count, or merely the interruption of her plans ? Nothing would console her. She bolted the door to her rOOln in the inn, but her shoes were there in the Inorning for Rudi to polish. First things first. Later that day, inanely gay, as if drugged, her mouth frozen in the sInile of an anitnal trainer, she appeared at EinbauIn's door to tel] hiln that Inar- riage would sitnplify their travel prob- lelns. Had she lost her mind? The point seelned acadelnic. She still had more Inind to lose than Einbauln. Nothing at EinbauIn's disposal had the power to deflect hcr will. There would be delays, thanks to complications, and EInbaum thought he read the script as a staged perforInance, an act of hysterIa that met her needs but for which she Inight not be responsible later. Shock, they called it. Einbauln would COlne to know much about shock. In practical terIns, the novels of in- trigue supplied theln both with a pat- tern of action. Little see111ed nt:w All of tll1S had been done so often before. Stranger couples than Einbaum and the Countess were seen on traIns out of Vienna, '1nd their story would not SUl prise the porter she had generously tipped The servant Rudi had been hlessed, put on the bus, and sent back to Pest. Strange that Einhauln, rocking in a berth euphoric with akvavit and the rising elevation, should reIl1ark that he had seldom felt so good about the fu- tUIt" at the InOlnent the lights were go- ing out over Europe. How explain it? He waC) by nature a gentle, even ap- prehensive, Inan. M ONEY got the111 to Spain 'The ...l plane itself, a kite with open cock- pits, recruited in Gorizia, was worth less than the InOner they paid for the pas- sage, but she enjoyed the flight. At a InOlnent her fear, accumulating for hours, would release itself in exhilara- tion-the thriH of a child rocking the seat of '1 Ferris wheel. Einbauln was terrified. He sat so long with stiff, clasped hands he had no feeling in his fingers. Wind filled his ears at night Thev 111ight have flown on to Lisbon, and frolll there to New York, but the tra vel agent could find few listings and d . d " Sk " " B aCCOInIno a tlons un er l1ng. e- fore they flew on to Brazil, where little snow fell, the Countess wanted a last winter of skiing, and a chance to re- consIder her plans for the future. The war Inight soon be over. Privately, she feared the godless Russians lnore than th e GerInans "'lith her two sets of skis and shoe skates for EinbauIn-along with wool Inittens and Inatching fur earInuffs- they went north to a village in the Spanish Pyrenees that proved to be jaInIned with refugee traffic. There Was little skiing. There was also 1 shortage of rOOlns and beds. The rUInor waC). that ports of exit, in either direc- tion, were in the hands of spies or Nazi sYInpathizers, and all foreigners, particularly Jews, were subject to in- vestigation, theIr possessions confisca t- ed. Was it possIble? Einbauln though t it possible. Countess Horvath-Szapati, travel- ling alone, with the added induce- ment of a little jewelry, Inight fly off to do her skiing elsewhere. Then again she might not. Although she was fond, as she said, of Einbaum, and